Variable reversible shaft-drive.



G. S. NICKUM.

VARIABLE REVERSIBLE SHAFT DRIVE- A PPLICATION FILED IULY 5-19!!-Patented July 2, 1918 2 SHEETS-SHET 1.

' INVENTORI GEORGE S. NIGKUM.

by: Gal/Z47 1 his Afiorney.

G. S. NICKUM.

I VARIABLE REVERSIBLE SHAFT DRIVE'.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 5. 1911.

1,271,207. Patented Jul 2,1918

2 SHEETS-S GEORGE S. NIOKUM.

Quit/raw his Afiorney. v

GEORGE 5. NICK, F GLENDALE, GALIFORNIA.

' VARIABLE REVERSIBLE SHAFT-DRIVE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 2, 191%.

Application filed July 5, 1917. Serial No. 178,583.

to rotate a shaft by intermittently gripping the same, said devicesbeing so operated, to

1 produce this intermittent gripping and rotation, by the rotation ofanother shaft to which they are connected by suitable operating means-The main object of the invention is to provide imlproved means forregulatin the speed of rotation, for throwing the sha out of operationentirely, and for reversing the direction of rotation, said means beinso constructed that any one of the above e ects may be accomplished bythe motion of a sin le controlling lever.

other object of the invention is to provide a device of this characterin which the wearing parts are simple and easily accessible so as topermit them to be repaired or replaced when necessary.

Another object of the invention is to provide gripping means which arevery quickacting and responsive to any motion of the controlling lever,so as to immediately produce the desired change in speed or direction.

The accompanying drawings illustrate an apparatus emfbodying myinvention, and referring thereto:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a plurality of the driving devices in placeon the shaft, together with the operating means for said devices.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of one of the devices mounted on the shaft,and the 0per-' ati means therefor.

Flg. 3 is a vertical-section of one of the devices, taken on line 3--3in Fig. 4.

Fig. 4 is a vertical section on line in Fig. 3 with the shaft and sleeveremoved. Fig. 5 is a artial side elevation of one of the devices, sowing theparts moved from neutral position.

A plurality, for example six, of the driving devices 1 are mounted sideby side on a sleeve 2' which is keyed or otherwise connected to theshaft to be driven, indicated at 2. Each of these driving devicescomprises gripping means and means for shift ing the position of saidgripping means, and

each of said devices is further provided with operating means forimparting an oscillat ing movement thereto and with controlling meansfor operating said shifting means for the gripping means.

The operating means for each of the devices may consist of a suitablymounted bell crank 3 pivotally connected to a projectin bearing 4 on hedevice 1, the other end 0 said bell crank being connected to aneccentrio rod 5, which is connected to the strap of an eccentric 6,mounted on the operating shaft 7. It will be understood that theeccentrics 6 for the respective driving devices are angularly displacedabout the shaft 7, so as to provide for successive operation of thedrivin devices. 2

Each of the driving devices 1 comprises two outer circular plates 10 and11, between which are rigidly secured two inner plates 12 and 13, saidinner plates being separated by and secured to segments 14' The innerplurality of recesses 15 and 15', whose walls are formed as segments ofcylinders and constitute bearings in which are rotatably mountedgripping members or dogs 16, whose inner faces 17 are substantiallytangential with respect to the path of oscillatory movement thereofaround shaft 2 when the parts are in neutral or inoperative position.Said faces may have a slight curvature either way from straighttangential relation without materially affecting the operation of thedevice. Rollers or chocks 20 are adapted to move in the spaces betweenthe inner faces 17 of the dogs 16 and the outer surface of the sleeve 2,said rollers being guided, for example, by pins 21 engaging in slots orguideways 22 in the outer plates 10 and 11. The rollers 20 and the innerfaces 17 of the dogs 16 are preferably hardened so as to withstand agreat amount of wear.

The dogs 16 are provided with projecting sectors 23 extending betweenthe inner plates 12 and 13 and adapted to swing in the spaces 24 betweenadjacent segments 14 and having gear teeth 25 at their outer edges,meshing with gear teeth 26 formed in the inner face of a shifting ring27 mounted outside the segments 14 and between the inner plates 12 and13 and adapted, to rotate relative to said members. i

The shifting means for the gripping means may comprise, in addition tothe plates 12 and 13 and the segments 14 have a shifting ring 27, apinion 30 rotatively mounted between lugs 31 on the outer plates 10 and11, whose teeth 30' engage with teeth 32 in the outer face of the ring27. Pinion 30 is provided with a lever 33 extending over the outersurface of one of the outer plates 10 or 11, and having its inner face34: concave, the central portion of said concave face being concentricwith the shaft and the remaining portions of said face being of lessradius of curvature than said central portion, or eccentric with respectto said shaft.-

The controlling means for operating said shifting means consists, forexample, of a ring 35 loosely mounted on the sleeve 2, so as to rotateindependently of said sleeve and independently of the driving portion ofthe device, and having a projecting portion 36 engaging the inner face34 of the lever 33. Bin 35 may have an arm 37 opposite said portlon 36,to which is connected a rod 38, and all of such rods 38 may be connectedat their other ends so as to be operated by a sin 1e controlling lever(not shown). It will be understood' that there is su-fiicient playbetween the portion 36 and the lever 33 to permit the oscillatorymovement of the driving device to take place without affecting theadjustment of the parts and the mounting) of the gripping members issuch as to en-a le them to be retained by friction, in any position towhich they may be shifted, notwithstanding the pressure of'the chamberwalls 20.

The operation is as follows:

When the parts are in neutral position as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, therollers 20 fall to the lower ends of the slots 22, and in theoscillatory movement of the driving device produced by the eccentric andbell crank connection above described, the inner faces- 17 of the dogs16 .will simply slide over said rollers and will cause no motion of thesleeve 2 or the shaft 2.

If, however, the controlling means be so operated so as to rotate ring35 and move portion 36 thereon to one side or the other side of itscentral or neutral position, it will engage lever 33 and swing itcorreslpondingly, thereby rotating pinion 30 and t e shifting ring 27.Said ring 27 operates through gear teeth 26 and 25 to rotate the dogs 16in their bearing recesses, so that the inner-faces 17 of said dogs willbe inclined or angularly disposed in relation to the surface of thesleeve 2', as shown in 5; Oscillation of the driving device 1 wi 1 nowcause the dogs or gripping members on one side of the device (the rightside in Fig. 5) to grip the corresponding rollers 20 tightly betweensaid gripping members and the surface of the sleeve 2' during onedirection of such oscillation and 1 thereby rotate said sleeve, whileduring the other direction of such oscillation the rollers names? willbe loosened and will slide over said sleeve. The gripping members ordogs on the other side of the device will have no effect when the partsare in this position, but will slide over the rollers as before.

It will be seen that swinging the lever 33 to the other side of itsneutral position will cause the dogs or gripping members to be shiftedin a reverse dll uction, which will cause the gripping members on theother side of the device to ip the corresponding rollers and rotate t eshaft in the opposite direction.

The device is therefore adapted to transmit motion from the operatinshaft 7 to the driven shaft 2 with any desired ratio between the speedof the two shafts and either in the same direction or in reversedirections.

It will be understood that the driven member or shaft 2 may be an axle,a hub, or other rotating member to be driven.

What I claim is: a

1. In a shaft drivin apparatus, a sleeve fastened to the sha a drivingdevice mounted on said shaft and havin means for causing it to oscillatearound sa1d shaft and provided with a plurality of bearing recesses, aplurality o gripping members rotatably mounted in said bearing recessesand having inner faces extending substantially tangentially with respectto the center of the shaft when the arts are in neutral position, aplurality o chocks movably mounted between said inner faces of thegripping members and the surface of said sleeve, and means for movingsaid gripping members to such positions that oscillation of said drivingdevice will cause said gripping members to grip said chocks between saidgripping members and said sleeve so as to rotate the shaft.

2. In a shaft driving apparatus, a driving device mounted on said shaftand having means for causing it to oscillate around sa1d shaft andprovided with a plurality of bearing recesses, a plurality of grippingmembers rotatably mounted in said bearing recesses and having innerfaces substantially tangential with respect to their path of motion whenthe driving device is oscillated and when the parts are in neutralposition, a plurality of rollers movably mounted between said lnnerfaces of said gripping members and said shaft, and shifting means formoving said gripping members so that their inner faces arenon-tangential with respect to their path of motion.

3. In a shaft driving apparatus, asleeve connected to the shaft to bedriven, a plurality of driving devices mounted on said sleeve, anoperating shaft provided with eccentric means connected to therespective driving devices so as to oscillate said driving dev1ces whensaid operating shaft is rotated, each of said driving devices beingprovided with a plurality of gripping memto different angular positionswith res ect to their path of motion, and control ing means connected tosaid shifting means to operate the same. i a

4. In a shaft driving apparatus, a driving device mounted on said shaftand having means for causing it to oscillate around said shaft andprovided with a plurality of bearing recesses, a plurality 0 grippingmembers rotatably mounted in said bearing recesses and having innerfaces substantially tangential with respect to their ath of motion whenthe driving device is oscillated and when the parts are in neutralposition, a plurality of rollers movably mounted between said innerfaces of said gripping members andsaid shaft, and shifting means formoving said gripping members so that 25 their inner faces arenon-tangential with respect to their path of motion, said shifting meanscomprising a ring having gear teeth engaging with said gripping members,and

provided with a projection, and a rocking 3o controlling member havingarms adapted to engage said projection to move said ring in eitherdirection for shifting the gripping members either way from tangentialposition so as to cause rotation of the driving 35 shaft in eitherdirection.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, at Los Angeles,California, this 26th day of June, 191

GEORGE S. NICKUM.

